intense moisture problem, any possible ideas?

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BC_August

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Hey ya'll, so i installed my new tent in its new room the other day (the garage) so far im still waiting on seeds so just have tomatoes in there (other than a little experiment tiny runt plant) but this morning when i went down to check if the new timer i bought had worked okay (it hadnt, its a dud so just used an older one) but my temp gauge was showing 99% humidity! i thought that could be right but when i looked at the plants they were literally dripping with water!
only thing different was i forgot to puts my fan on for the night, i wouldnt think a cold garage would be so damp, i knew temp would be something to tackle but not this.

would having my lights on during the night/cold hours help this? or am i gonna need to get some sort of dehumidifier?

im a total newbie please go easy.

TL;DR - new grow tent at 99% humidity over night, what should i do? lights on over night instead? dehumidifier?
 
freezeland2

freezeland2

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Are you sure the reading of 99% was accurate? The moisture on the plant is called transpiration.
 
GrowHobo

GrowHobo

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Just get a dehumidifier, the plant “transpire” release moisture into the air. If you keep growing gonna need to tackle it. You could exhaust fan to outside also. Do you have a fan & filter? You can cause mold problems and what not in your garage with high RH also
 
B

BC_August

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Are you sure the reading of 99% was accurate? The moisture on the plant is called transpiration.
pretty sure, touched the roof of the tent and seemed a bit damp, nothing major. Would transpiration cause humidity?


Just get a dehumidifier, the plant “transpire” release moisture into the air. If you keep growing gonna need to tackle it. You could exhaust fan to outside also. Do you have a fan & filter? You can cause mold problems and what not in your garage with high RH also

I have a fan for airflow and a small extractor fan, this is a true "poor mans" set up. Don't think ill need a filter as the strain im intending to grow apparently doesnt smell too much, if it does ill get one yeah.

just seems weird, the garage seems like the least humid place in the house hah.


its currently summer here and will start to warm up more soon and stay warm for 4 -6 months, would lights on at night help? during the day yesterday i had no issues. i guess i could just give it a go
 
B

BC_August

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failing all that, mini dehumidifier is gonna cost me like $30 lol
 
harmonics

harmonics

Harmonics
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What temperature is your garage compared to the temperature you keep the tent? Try and heat up your garage to be a bit closer to the temperatures you keep the tent at, if possible.

If it’s too much colder (25+ degrees) outside the tent in the garage it could be the problem. That could create a ton of moisture at the top of your tent where the cold garage air hits the warm air inside the tent. I’ve literally had rooms and tents rain on me before I learned what caused the problem 😆
 
harmonics

harmonics

Harmonics
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What temperature is your tent and
what temperature is your garage?
I’m just curious, doesn’t sound like it’s the problems I had (Mine started at the beginning of winter and was a very extreme temperature difference between the grow and attic)
 
B

BC_August

79
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What temperature is your garage compared to the temperature you keep the tent? Try and heat up your garage to be a bit closer to the temperatures you keep the tent at, if possible.

If it’s too much colder (25+ degrees) outside the tent in the garage it could be the problem. That could create a ton of moisture at the top of your tent where the cold garage air hits the warm air inside the tent. I’ve literally had rooms and tents rain on me before I learned what caused the problem 😆
i haven't taken temps for the garage yet, ill do that today. temps inside the tent are 15C lowest - 20-22C highest (59f - 68-71F) which is pretty low but the strain im going to grow is apparently extremetely hardy, Ruderalis Indica (sensi seeds) - growing for medical usage, everything I've read says it doesn't mind low temps


It was the fan. You left the fan off.
thank you friend, i hope you're right! will report back tomorrow with results


What temperature is your tent and
what temperature is your garage?
I’m just curious, doesn’t sound like it’s the problems I had (Mine started at the beginning of winter and was a very extreme temperature difference between the grow and attic)
Will take temps in the afternoon and let you know :) its early and if i wake the dog up i wake up house up, its too early for that nonsense hahah


Thanks for everyones help. i guess theres a bunch of easy fixes (dehumidifier) but yeah praying its the fan hahah
I'll take some temps in a couple of hours for ya @harmonics
 
B

BC_August

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What temperature is your tent and
what temperature is your garage?
I’m just curious, doesn’t sound like it’s the problems I had (Mine started at the beginning of winter and was a very extreme temperature difference between the grow and attic)
at a guess, without taking temps, theres probably a 5-10degree difference (Celsius) its cold in there but not extreme
 
mysticepipedon

mysticepipedon

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When we measure humidity we are measuring relative humidity (%RH). It's relative to the temperature.

Cold air can't hold as much water vapor as warm air, so when your lights go off, the temperature drops in your tent and the %RH skyrockets. If it hits 100%, it precipitates out as dew, which is what happened in your case. If your exhaust fan was on, the warm, humid air would have been removed from the tent pretty quickly.

Having your only heat source on during the night, rather than day, is a no-brainer.
 
B

BC_August

79
18
When we measure humidity we are measuring relative humidity (%RH). It's relative to the temperature.

Cold air can't hold as much water vapor as warm air, so when your lights go off, the temperature drops in your tent and the %RH skyrockets. If it hits 100%, it precipitates out as dew, which is what happened in your case. If your exhaust fan was on, the warm, humid air would have been removed from the tent pretty quickly.

Having your only heat source on during the night, rather than day, is a no-brainer.
nice, thanks for that simple to understand explanation. Ill get a bigger exhaust fan, its way too small, and once the seeds arrive and get into the tent the 18/6 or 20/4 will be during night hours. Thanks mate appreciate it.


What temperature is your tent and
what temperature is your garage?
I’m just curious, doesn’t sound like it’s the problems I had (Mine started at the beginning of winter and was a very extreme temperature difference between the grow and attic)
Took temps with 2 different gauges, with the intake and exhaust fans going and the light, humidity and temp are rising, 78% humidity and 19.8degrees C/67.6degrees F after around an hour or two.

Garage i believe was around 17 degrees C and humidity was 90ish%


Just realised as i was out doing an errand that the amount of trash in the garage probably wont be helping - new house and havent had a chance to get rid of it it yet.
 
B

BC_August

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when it comes to 12/12 time ill invest in a dehumidifier. sorted

thanks for your help
 
PK1

PK1

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Hey ya'll, so i installed my new tent in its new room the other day (the garage) so far im still waiting on seeds so just have tomatoes in there (other than a little experiment tiny runt plant) but this morning when i went down to check if the new timer i bought had worked okay (it hadnt, its a dud so just used an older one) but my temp gauge was showing 99% humidity! i thought that could be right but when i looked at the plants they were literally dripping with water!
only thing different was i forgot to puts my fan on for the night, i wouldnt think a cold garage would be so damp, i knew temp would be something to tackle but not this.

would having my lights on during the night/cold hours help this? or am i gonna need to get some sort of dehumidifier?

im a total newbie please go easy.

TL;DR - new grow tent at 99% humidity over night, what should i do? lights on over night instead? dehumidifier?
your temps are too low. setup a heater and put the settings at 26c/80f. That should reduce the humidity. If the humidity is still above 70% than put the heater at 82f/28c

Here is a chart that shows you how you can play this
Plant enviroment
 
Last edited:
B

BC_August

79
18
your temps are too low. setup a heater and put the settings at 26c/80f. That should reduce the humidity. If the humidity is still above 70% than put the heater at 82f/28c


Ruderalis Indica can still thrive with the temps i listed, but yeah if the humidity problem isnt solved by lights on during night and better fans, plus if the temp is still too low ill put my heater on a timer for a few hours a day. I have to think about power costs.

Currently have a bonsai sized experiment that averages at 22/23degrees C and its got zero complaints.
 
Millwright

Millwright

63
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Absolutely. I have a small unheated, 1940s garage. Some days my tools will be covered in moisture. If I turn on the heater in the winter to work on something it gets really bad,
Hey ya'll, so i installed my new tent in its new room the other day (the garage) so far im still waiting on seeds so just have tomatoes in there (other than a little experiment tiny runt plant) but this morning when i went down to check if the new timer i bought had worked okay (it hadnt, its a dud so just used an older one) but my temp gauge was showing 99% humidity! i thought that could be right but when i looked at the plants they were literally dripping with water!
only thing different was i forgot to puts my fan on for the night, i wouldnt think a cold garage would be so damp, i knew temp would be something to tackle but not this.

would having my lights on during the night/cold hours help this? or am i gonna need to get some sort of dehumidifier?

im a total newbie please go easy.

TL;DR - new grow tent at 99% humidity over night, what should i do? lights on over night instead? dehumidifier?
 
PK1

PK1

Supporter
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Ruderalis Indica can still thrive with the temps i listed, but yeah if the humidity problem isnt solved by lights on during night and better fans, plus if the temp is still too low ill put my heater on a timer for a few hours a day. I have to think about power costs.

Currently have a bonsai sized experiment that averages at 22/23degrees C and its got zero complaints.
can you drop a picture of and show me everything you got going. cuz i far as i know, cannibus plants like it warm and they thrive when the humidity and temps are dialed in
 
B

BC_August

79
18
can you drop a picture of and show me everything you got going. cuz i far as i know, cannibus plants like it warm and they thrive when the humidity and temps are dialed in

Do you mean of the new tent? i havent got it properly set up tbh so hesitant to post pics. My fan for extracting is far too small so will be fixing that and getting a floor fan for air circulation.
I'm setting up kinda slowly while waiting for seeds etc. Almost have it set up but we'll see.

thinking of getting something like this too, if the humidity problem persists even with lights on at night

Damp


and just refilling it as needed.

once the plants are under 18/6 or 20/4 (might do 20/4 tbh) they'll have a smaller window to get humid. When i switch to 12/12 ill buy a proper dehumidifier.

this is my first time so im not expecting huge yields. But ill have 3-4 plants going, and the strain grows small and fast so yeah, we'll see.


this is what im waiting for, as you can see it doesnt mind the cold.
 
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